Kyoto producer Toyomu (stylized TOYOMU) had quite the April, huh? His imagined take on The Life Of Pablo got his name all over English-language media, resulting in…well, just so many posts about him, or interviewing him, or vaguely focused around him. Now comes his next set of songs, Mysterious Japanese Groove, which shifts his sample sources to Japanese music from the ’70s and ’80s. Never fear, as Toyomu has not made a future funk album. Rather, he’s flipped these sounds into something all his own and displays his producer chops– which he also did on Pablo, though I feel that was overlooked a bit. Beats, such as the spacey fizz of “Chalk” and the nostalgic Boards-Of-Canada-ish “Gogo,” are absorbing spaces all their own, able to stand without any additional voices in the mix. Listen above, or get it here.
